The challenge...to use the word prompt of the day and write for five minutes flat..." no extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation. Unscripted. Unedited, Real."
I will admit...today I went over the five minutes. It's soooo hard for me to do this in five minutes flat. But I will still participate even when I go over because this has been a great discipline to get me writing again.
Broken
Go...
We live in a broken world.
Yes...our world is broken. The brokenness surrounds us, in our cities, in our neighborhoods, in our houses, even in ourselves.
We live in a broken world because we live in a fallen world. Our brokenness stems from the fact of a severed relationship between God and man....way back in the beginning...in the garden. Sin entered the world at that point severing the perfection of the relationship between God and mankind. Sin...in the form of a choice...to desire to be as a god, to choose one's own desire and notion of what is good over obedience to God. No longer would man walk in the garden with God, the one who truly knows what it is to be good.
But God is love and God is good.
And so...from the beginning He had a plan and a purpose. He would send His one and only Son, Jesus Christ. To be born, a baby, and grow into a man to walk this earth...fully human and yet fully God. Emmanuel...God with us. He lived out his short life on this earth in perfection...in perfect relationship with the Father...sinless.
Yet he suffered as we all do...he suffered pain, persecution, abuse, bullying, and more. He was even led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan...in ways that represent every kind of temptation that is common to man.
And yet...HE DID NOT SIN. He fought back with the very Word of God. He was and is the Word...the very bread of life.
And then He walked in the garden with His Father.
In the garden, much different than that other garden so long ago. In this garden, He would be betrayed by one close to Him. He was taken and beaten and stripped and spat upon and finally...crucified on a cruel cross. He died and was placed in a tomb.
BUT HE DID NOT REMAIN IN THE TOMB!! He arose from death to life. There were hundreds of eyewitnesses to this fact. He beat death, He beat sin, He beat Satan's hold over this world. Finally... He returned to the right hand of the Father.
Leaving us...but not as orphans. We have the Holy Spirit to help us fight not only our own battles but the battles of the broken ones of this world. We have the Holy Spirit to breathe life back into our broken lives.
But do we avail ourselves to this gift? The enemy wants us to believe that we are all still broken. That it is all helpless, that he has won. But the war has already been won by Christ...we have battles and skirmishes to fight out on this earth...but the ultimate victory is ours in Christ Jesus! Because He rose we know that we who are in Christ will also one day rise with Him.
So every morning I walk in my 'garden': my quiet place with God. Yes, "He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me that I am His own." And because of this, I can trust all of my broken pieces into His healing hands. Oswald Chambers said it best,
“Leave the broken, irreversible past in God’s hands and step out into the invincible future with Him."
How about you?
Have you placed the brokenness of your life into the hands of Jesus?
Now it's your turn...
1. Write for 5 minutes flat - no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you &encourage them in their comments.
3. And then absolutely, no ifs, ands or buts about it, you need to visit the person who linked up before you &encourage them in their comments.
Seriously. That is, like, the rule. And the fun. And the heart of this community...
I loved this!!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, Heather! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed my post!
Deleteblessings,
Gay
So precious! I love the truth that God heals our broken world! :-)
ReplyDeleteSusannah, thanks so much for dropping by and leaving encouraging words! Not only does God heal our brokenness but He makes it beautiful!
Deleteblessings,
Gay
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAmazing post. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteVal...thanks so much! I'm glad you dropped in!! I hopped over to your blog and I have to say your dad did a great job on your 'head shot'...just beautiful. You must be like my daughter...a beauty and very photogenic!
DeleteI am blessed to be able to speak words that bring just a little bit of blessing into the lives of others!
blessings,
Gay
Dropping by from FMF. Love the post. Awesome!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by Adeline...just left a comment for you on your FMF post. Love your blog name and the shoes!! Thank you so much for your encouraging words!!
DeleteBlessings,
Gay
Gay, just dropped by from FMF, too. Funny I saw where you posted earlier and read this and it touched my heart for several reasons. I figured it must be meant to share since your repost was right before mine. :)
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job of going over why we are broken and His plan for restoration.
But what really touched me was your last paragraph. When you referenced "In the Garden." For the first time, I really had a visual of what the author of that song was trying to depict (despite the fact I have sang it many times). What better time and place to really feel His presence and hear His voice than in the quiet morning hours surrounded by and appreciating His beautiful and wondrous creations. I know He can work with anyone where ever they are, but what a soothing place to find Him and His healing touch in our most broken places, among the flowers He caused to bloom, just for you... just for me.
I think I may need to go spend my quiet time in the morning by my flowerbed! :) Thanks!!!
BTW, I love your name! That was my dearly departed grandmother's name and she was a wonderful, godly woman.
Joy.
DeleteThank you so much for dropping by from FMF. I really appreciate you words! We rarely sing old hymns anymore and that's ok because most of the people attending our church have never even heard the old hymns and the style would not speak to their heart...but I have always loved that hymn. There is something about it that has spoken to my heart since I was a young girl. The garden is my own personal place...a safe place to speak to my Father...a place where He comes to meet with me. It is a metaphorical garden when I can't get to a real one, or it is just too hot out here in Nevada...even in the early morning hours. But oh...how I love when I can sit out back in all of God's beautiful creation and just talk to HIm. When we are quiet and still long enough He talks back to us...I have found this to be so true in my own time with HIm. Sometimes through His word and sometimes through the stillness I can hear His voice. Nothing, nothing, can give me peace and contentment as that time does.
Thanks again. I love that your grandmother had my name! I have been called Joy as well in times past...I think when people used to connect the meaning of my name with being happy they would slip up and call me Joy.
blessings,
Gay
Hi Gay! What a beautiful post! And you did all of this in five minutes..that is amazing. It is important for me not to believe that I am broken, when Christ is on my side. But you are right to point out that there is so much brokenness in the world.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the book contribution! It's a funny coincidence that I was planning a blog post on that very subject of Bloom Where You Are Planted. I take a different spin on it though.
So nice to meet you! I look forward to getting to know you better :)
Ceil
Hi Ceil,
DeleteI'm so happy you dropped by! Thanks so much for your encouraging words. I am so thankful that I don't have to live out my brokenness as the world does but know that I am whole in Christ!
I love getting to know other sister bloggers! Just so you know I try and do the body of the writing in five minutes(I don't always accomplish that), and then go back and add the photos and the "Five Minute Friday" info...which at this point is just a copy paste job. Some words...like broken, can require a little longer than five minutes. ;-) It had been a good discipline for me to join the FMF community and to get me blogging regularly.
I look forward to getting to know you as well!
blessings,
Gay
I don't know how I happened to find the 5 minute Friday, maybe from a link on the Better Writer FB page? But I've never seen it before. I LOVE this idea. And when I saw the word for the week, I thought of how broken I was before Jesus! My thoughts were more personal than what you wrote, but yours is beautiful! So even though it's Wednesday, I may still need to write this...
ReplyDeleteHi Chanda,
DeleteI suspect you did find it on Jo Ann's page. I am on her book launch team too for #WhenAWomanFindsHerVoice. That was actually an old post (written long before I even knew Jo Ann),that was relevant to the Jo Ann's subject, so she linked it up to her page. It is an older FMF post. The word for this last word was actually 'Red'...I thought 'red' really? So I never got a post written for that word. LOL! Check out the links to the Five Minute Friday posts and join the fun. This is a really fun group of bloggers!
And thank you for stopping by and commenting!! I am trying to get my words out on the page for Jo Ann's link up today. I think I have too much to say and it's all jumbling up in my head and not coming out well.
blessings,
Gay
Hi
ReplyDeleteThanks for this great post !
Past should always be left behind at the past. It will surely help to concentrate in the future.
Regards
Hi Aime,
DeleteThanks for stopping by! I've been out of town for the past two weeks so sorry for the late response. So true...sometimes we need to just allow Jesus to do the healing so that we can walk into the fullness of the purpose He has given us!
blessings,
Gay